Internal GK-3 + piezo?

Started by jodama, February 16, 2017, 06:05:56 AM

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jodama

I currently have a ghost system, and I had an idea. This doesn't happen very often, so bear with me.

Would it be possible to have both a piezo pickup and one of those internal GK-3 kits installed on the same guitar, with some sort of switch to choose between them? Would this even be useful in any way? It would seem to me that getting the benefit of both, depending on your needs of the moment, might be worthwhile. Or if nothing more it could be an interesting experiment.

I'm not super familiar with the electronics. Would the two be able to share the same circuitry? If it was as simple as just splicing the wires to a separate pickup, I would imaging it would be pretty easy.

Maybe this is all ridiculous. Has this been tried somewhere that I've missed? What would be the drawbacks (beside cost)?


chrish

When i first got into guitar synths, i purchased 2 gr-50's on a close out deal from a music store that i passed often when i traveled.

Two gk2 pickups and cables can along with the gr-50's.

i mounted the two gk2's on an ovation liscenced acoustic guitar and had two 13 pin cables going one each to the gr-50's.

The idea was to fatten up the synth patches and the experiment worked, but it lead to even more experiments and even more gear.

First i added a vg8, then a us-20,then a used mks-50, then a korg wavestation, then sequencers, computer and daw, then...So much more gear.

the moral of my story is, yes, do your experiment, and more sound experiments will follow.

and remember that purchasing gear is less expensive and more educational than being a crack addict. ;-)

gumtown

Experimenting is good, but I think you will inevitably run into a few problems,
The GK pickup circuitry is vastly different from piezo, so you can't just 'connect' the GK pickup wires to the piezo saddles.
You would need to join the GK output signals at the 13 pin connectors, and other problems will start.
The least will be signal phasing/phase cancellations, and the GK Volume controls will clash.
To 'switch' in the simplest for will either require switching the GK power from one circuit to the next, with an audible thump, or a 6 way switch to select the pickup hex outputs.
The hex outputs between piezo and GK will also require different setup levels/settings.

If you want to go that path, I recommend two separate systems with 2 GK cables into a floor GK switcher, or two VG/GR devices.

Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

GuitarBuilder

it depends on what you want to do with the piezo signal.  My Brian Moore i81.13 uses an RMC piezo system to drive the 13-pin output as well as a separate "acoustic" signal.  Outputs are mag, piezo, and 13-pin.

The problem is that the Ghost piezo system is not as "clean" as the RMC for GK use.  I would not try to use it as a hex pickup with the GK kit.

Your solution may be to leave the Ghost system intact and simply add the entire internal GK kit.  The kit includes a Guitar/Synth mix switch anyway, so you could select the piezo that way.
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973